Unexpected Family
by The Inverse Universe
Summary: Tony always thought his only hope for a family was starting one with Pepper, but maybe, he and Leo can both find some Unexpected Family.


**Hello! If you follow my account, you know I suck at completing stories. So I am now writing open ended one shots that can be read as a whole story, with me maybe posting more one shots in this same continuity. **

**I really like this idea, and think it's a lot more plausible than all the Percy is Tony's nephew explanations. If anyone else wants to write something in this continuity, go ahead. Just please let me know so I can read it!**

**So, without further ado, I give you "Unexpected Family."**

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><p>Tony carefully set the small red book down on the table and buried his face in his hands. He couldn't believe what he was reading. How could his mom have cheated? But he was staring at the proof. Maria Stark had had an affair and gotten pregnant.<p>

It was earth shattering. She knew it wasn't her husbands, so she had the nurses fake that the baby had died in the middle of the night and give her to her father. She didn't have to fake tears over the loss of her little Esperanza.

Tony jumped up, he had a sister! He had to find her! He still had family living, and he wouldn't able to do anything else until he found Esperanza.

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><p>Pepper ran downstairs as soon as she heard the banging from the lab. She gasped when she saw the mess.<p>

Tony threw one last piece of machinery across the room and slid down the wall till he sitting in a ball on the floor. Pepper could clearly smell the alcohol from across the lab. Tony looked up at her with tears in his eyes. "She's dead. She died seven years ago in a machine shop fire. She was a mechanic, isn't that funny? I'm an engineer, she's a mechanic. So _damn funny._"

Pepper walked up to the screen and began reading the article. Tony sobbed and took another swig from his bottle, "Why can't I have a family? Why do they all have to be dead? My Mom's dead. My Dad's dead. And now my sister is too."

"Tony!" shouted Pepper excitedly. "She had a son!"

Tony looked up. He stood and staggered towards the console. "Lemme see," he slurred. He read it out loud. "Ms. Valdez's eight year old son Leo was in the building at the time of the fire and was miraculously unharmed. Pepper, this is fantastic! He'll be fifteen, I have to meet him."

Pepper looked at the disheveled and drunk man. "Maybe you should sober up first."

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><p>Tony rang the doorbell at least fifty times in the space of ten seconds.<p>

"Holy crap! What do you want!" shouted the teenaged girl as she opened the door. Nobody over the age of five should ring a doorbell that many times. "Oh. Hey, Tony." She turned around and shouted back into the house. "Dad! Tony's here!"

"Actually," explained Tony. "I need to talk to you, Piper."

"Never mind, Dad!" Piper gave him a suspicious look and stepped aside to let him in. She led him into the living room and had him sit across from her. "So what's this about?"

"It's your friend Leo," explained Tony. "I need to find him."

Piper sighed in exasperation, "Whatever he blew up, I'm sure it was an accident."

"What? No, he didn't blow anything up. He's my nephew."

Suddenly Piper swelled up with anger, "Are you serious? So you abandon him to the foster system seven years ago and all of the sudden you want to find him?"

Tony blinked at her sudden anger, "I didn't know that he existed seven years ago." He pulled out his Mom's diary. "I just found out that my mom had an affair with Sammy Valdez Jr. and had a daughter named Esperanza with him. I tried to find her, but found out that she died and left behind a son. Please, he's the only family I have left. I have to find him."

Piper stared into his eyes, and her voice seemed to change for a moment. "Tell me if you're lying."

"I'm not," answered Tony.

"Fine," Piper walked down the hall and re emerged a few minutes later. "He'll be here in a few minutes."

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><p>Leo let himself into the mansion. He was still in shock that Tristan had somehow gotten this much land only ten miles from the city. "Hey, Beauty Queen! What's the emergency?"<p>

He walked into the living room. "Who's your friend?"

The man turned around and Leo's jaw dropped. "Piper! You didn't tell me that you knew Tony Stark."

"Leo," suggested Piper. "Why don't you sit down?"

Leo glanced at both of them suspiciously but sat down anyway.

Piper looked expectantly at Tony, who sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Leo, your mom was Esperanza Valdez, right?" Leo nodded. "And your grandfather was Sammy Valdez Jr.?" He nodded again. "Did you ever know your grandmother?"

"What's this about?" demanded Leo.

Tony sighed again. "Your grandmother was Maria Stark. My mother."

"Is this a joke?" wondered Leo. He looked around and did a mental search for any cameras. There weren't any.

Tony handed Leo Maria's diary so he could see for himself. Leo read the page on giving Esperanza to her father, and knew that Tony was telling the truth. His day just got a lot better.

"So, Leo, where are you living?"

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><p><strong>So that was "Unexpected Family."<strong>

**What'd you guys think? I hope you enjoyed reading it, because I sure enjoyed writing it.**


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